Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Environmental concerns having global impacts
- 2 Environmental concerns having local impacts
- 3 Land use changes and their consequences to ecosystems
- 4 Consequences of desertification, deforestation and afforestation
- 5 Conservation and exploitation of biological systems
- 6 Ecosystem management
- 7 Reclamation of degraded environments
- Further reading
- Index
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Environmental concerns having global impacts
- 2 Environmental concerns having local impacts
- 3 Land use changes and their consequences to ecosystems
- 4 Consequences of desertification, deforestation and afforestation
- 5 Conservation and exploitation of biological systems
- 6 Ecosystem management
- 7 Reclamation of degraded environments
- Further reading
- Index
Summary
This book is intended to be used in schools but would also serve as an introductory text for those interested in the environment in which we live. Much of the material is derived from lecture courses that I give to undergraduates at Worcester College of Higher Education.
The book examines environmental problems of the present day from the perspective of an ecologist concerned with impacts of human activities on the integrity of ecosystem function, energy flow and nutrient cycling. Global and local issues receive consideration and the impact of land-use changes, forestry operations and human pressures on semi-arid regions are assessed. The exploitation, conservation and management of biological systems forms a significant part of the second half of the book. The concluding chapter explores the principles and practice of reclaiming derelict land.
I am aware that it is not possible to be an expert on all the subjects covered in this text. I have depended very much, therefore, on the work of others and I am, accordingly, grateful for their painstaking research and hard work. I hope that, in selecting the material and distilling it into this form, I have not been guilty of misrepresentation or error. Furthermore, I hope that I will be forgiven if I have inadvertently cast my words in a form close to that of others.
I would like to thank Alan Cornwell and Cambridge University Press for the invitation to write this book and assisting me in its production.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Environmental Concerns , pp. viPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1993